Intel today previewed a new Intel Xeon processor codenamed "Nehalem-EX," a more powerful version of its Xeon multiprocessor chip for servers that will be available in the second half.

The 45nm Nehalem-EX processor will feature up to eight cores inside a single chip supporting 16 threads and 24Mb of cache.

Nehalem-EX will add new reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) features traditionally found in the company's Intel Itanium processor family, such as Machine Check Architecture (MCA) Recovery, Intel said. MCA will detect and fix errors that could otherwise cause systems to crash. The chip will be able to detect system errors originating in the CPU or system memory and work with the operating system to correct them. That could help make systems more fault tolerant and provide greater uptime, according to Intel.

The Nehalem-EX will offer up to nine times the memory bandwidth of the previous-generation Intel Xeon 7400 platform. Nehalem-EX will also double the memory capacity with up to 16 memory slots per processor socket, and offer four high-bandwidth QuickPath Interconnect links. Nehalem-EX will also provide tremendous scalability, from large-memory two-socket systems through eight-socket systems capable of processing 128 threads simultaneously without the need for third-party chips to "glue" the platform together.

Intel is targeting the EX processors at high-end systems running data-intensive applications such as databases.